After enlisting in 1973, Lee was assigned to the Special Warfare Command in 1974. In military survival training, he ate uncooked snakes to fill his stomach. Lee showed no signs of illness when he was discharged in August 1979, but he suddenly began to feel severe stomach pains in September 2003.

Lee was eventually diagnosed as having a Sparganum infection, which is caused by tapeworm larva and is contracted by eating the flesh of infected animals, such as snakes, fish, or amphibians.

Lee asked the Ministry of Patriots & Veterans Affairs to recognize him as a veteran in 2005, saying that he came down with the ailment because he ate raw snakes in the military. When his request was rejected, he filed a suit to win the status.

In the first decision, the judges ruled that there was no connection between the sickness and his military service. But the Seoul High Court on Monday ruled in Lee's favor, saying that his sickness was caused by eating raw animal flesh while fulfilling his military duties.

(englishnews@chosun.com )